Finger print card holder



May 8, 1934. J. CARPANI FINGER PRINT CARD HOLDER Filed July 25, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOZZ J55 cfi aarfiww MW Patented May 8,

UNETED STATES PATENT OFFICE 6 Claims.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in a finger print card holder or a finger printing machine, and objects to generally improve has for one of its the construction of such devices whereby the operation thereof is greatly simplified.

Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of the kind described in which the card for receiving the imprints may be easily and quickly placed in the machine and the imprints of a persons fingers speedily recorded.

Another object or" the invention is toprovide necessity of shifting the card into several positions, which required the lifting or grasping of the card, or the changing of the prisoners position. come by the use or" my These objectionable features are overimprovement, and therefore, it is a further object of my invention to provide a machine in easily adjusted which the card may be to difierent positions without touching the same, and wherein after a certain adjustment of the table or platen element card has been attained the of the machine may be rotated to place a particular part of the card before the person whose fingers are being imprinted, overcoming the necesslty of changing such persons position.

With these and other ends in view, this invention consists in the details of construction and combination of elements hereinafter set forth and then specifically designated by the claims.

In order that those skilled in the art to which this invention appertains may understand how to make and use construction in detail,

the accompanying drawings in which:-

this application,

the same, I will describe its referring by numerals to forming a part of Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a finger printing machine constructed in accordance with my invention having a part of the guard detail of construction and ilaway to show a plate broken lustrating in dotted lines a card to receive the finger imprints.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation or end view of the device looking toward the left hand end of Fig. l, and with parts of the platen or table element and flange being broken tails of construction.

Fig. 3 is a section on away to illustrate dethe line 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 44 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged top plan view of the pedestal per se.

In carrying out my invention as herein embodied, 6 represents any supporting object, such as the top of a table, desk or merely a board, and while said supporting object does not form any part of the invention, the base member 7 of the pedestal is secured to said supporting object 6 by means of fastening devices, such as screws.

In the base is rotatably mounted a vertical post or spindle 8 carried by the pedestal head 9 to which is secured the table or platen 10, thereby rotatably mounting said table or plate relative to the pedestal base '7. In order to limit the movements of the table or platen 10 and temporarily hold the same in either of two positions, at right angles to each other, a flat spring finger or'latch 11 is mounted on the pedestal base 7 and projects upwardly for coaction with a quadrant 12 carried by and movable with the pedestal head 9. Said quadrant has notches 13 and 14 at both ends as well as stops 15 and 16 also at both ends, and a curved portion 17 between the notches 13 and 14 and the walls of the quadrant between the notches and the curved edge 1'7 are beveled so that the use of a small amount of force will cause the spring latch 11 to ride out of a notch and On to the curved surface 17, although preventing accidental movement of the quadrant and associated parts relative to the spring latch.

The table or platen 10 is provided at its front edge with a downwardly extending apron 18 having a curved outer surface 19 at its upper edge which blends into the top surface of said table or platen so that a card or other sheet to receive imprints of fingers may be bent over the apron without breaking or otherwise damaging the card when the same is turned down to keep a portion of said card out of the way of the person whose fingers are being printed as will be more fully hereinafter explained.

The table or platen is provided-at the back and to one side with an extension 20 which projects rearwardly from the main part of said table or platen so that under certain conditions a portion of the card will be supported.

Extending from front to back of the table or platen are a pair of widely spaced guides 21 which are preferably formed from thin strips of metal embedded in the table or platen or otherwise suitably secured thereto for guiding a finger printing card or sheet, and dividing said table or platen into a card receiving section 22 and two marginal or side sections 23 and 24. The marginal side section 23 may and preferably does extend the entire length from front to back of the platen or table, but the rear end of the other side section 24 terminates short of the rear end or edge of the platen, and more particularly it stops short of the extension 20.

The card receiving section 22 of the table platen, less the extension 20, is approximately the same dimensions as a card or sheet on which the imprint of fingers are to be made, and approximately midway the length or between the front and back edges of the table platen are formed two openings 25 all the way through said table or platen, and the upper ends of the openings are surrounded byescutcheons 26 embedded in the top surface of the table or platen.

On the under side of the table or platen are mounted bearing plates 27 in which is journalled a suitable shaft 28 positioned in a lateral groove 29 in the underside of the table or platen and crossing the openings 25. One end of said shaft 28 projects beyond one side of the platen or table and has a hand wheel 20 thereon for revolving the shaft.

On the shaft 28 in the region of the openings 25 are mounted corrugated or otherwise roughened rolls 31 which extend to or even slightly above the top surface of the table or platen, and coacting with each of said rolls is a roller 32 journalled upon the free end of a lever 33 pivotally mounted as at 34 and provided with a leg 35 which extends downwardly through an aperture 36 in a marginal side section of the table or platen. The roller is held in cooperative relation to its respective roll 31 by means of a spring 37 having one end connected with the leg 35, as the movable element, while the other end of said spring is anchored as at 38. This arrangement provides the necessary pressure on a card passing over the corrugated rolls to cause said card to travelas the rolls are rotated.

To one of the marginal side sections, as 23, of the table or platen is secured a hinge leaf or element 39, and to said hinge element is hingedly or pivotally connected a guard plate 40 adapted to overlie the front part of the card receiving section 22 of the table or platen and be temporarily held in place by a spring actuated catch 41, the nose 42 of which is adapted to pass through an aperture 43 in the keeper 44 formed with the free side edge of the guard plate. Said catch is here shown in the form of a bell crank lever pivoted at 45 and having one end of a spring 46 connected with the lower or underneath arm, while the other end of said spring is anchored at some suitable part of the device underneath the table or platen as at 47.

The guard plate is provided with an elongated, preferably rectangular, opening 48 which gives access to the very front part of the top surface of the table or platen, and more particularly, a restricted area of a card or sheet on the card receiving section of the table or platen, which underlies the guard plate. The front end of the guard plate is provided with a bib 49 adapted to overlie the curved part and at least a portion of the pendant part of the apron 18 in order to clamp a card between the table or platen and its apron, and said guard plate and its bib, with any part of the card or sheet which would naturally project forwardly from the table bent down out of the way of the person whose fingers are being printed as well as the operator of the machine. Along the rear edge of the guard plate is formed an upturned lip 50 which acts as a shield for the exposed part of the card or sheet beyond the rear end of the guard plate and often prevents a persons fingers from coming in contact with the part of the card exposed at the back of the guard plate when force is being used to compel the printing of a persons fingers.

The spring catch 41 has its head beveled so that when the guard plate is forced down, said catch will be actuated to permit the clamping of a card and as soon as the guard plate is in proper position, the spring 46 will return the catch to its holding position. When it is necessary to unlock or open the guard plate, the catch is actuated by a suitable operating element or finger piece 51, which preferably projects from one side of the machine, and preferably from the same side of the end of shaft 28 so that said catch 41 and its operating parts are located within the marginal side section 24 of the table or platen.

The sides of the table or platen may also be provided with pendent flanges 52 and 53.

In operation, the guard plate 40 is unlatched and thrown back until the card receiving section 22 of the table or platen is entirely uncovered. A card or sheet shown in dotted lines at 54 and of usual. arrangement is placed on the front part of 100 the card receiving section of the table or platen, and what is the top edge of said sheet or card is moved into engagement with the rollers 32 so that as the hand wheel 30 is rotated said sheet or card will be drawn in between said rollers 32 and the corrugated rolls 31. As soon as this is accomplished, the guard plate is swung over into position overlying the card receiving section of the table or platen where it will be latched in place by the catch 41. 110

As the guard plate is moved into its operative or closed position, it will engage the card or sheet and the bib portion of the guard plate will bend the end of the card which is sticking forwardly beyond the table or platen down against the apron of the table or platen without breaking said card or sheet.

A part of the card is now exposed through the opening 48 in the guard plate, and by operating the hand wheel 30, a desired section of the card or sheet may be brought into registration with the opening 43 and such section may be the spaces 55 which are to receive imprints separately of the fingers and thumb of one hand.

After these impressions are made, the hand 125 wheel 30 is again operated which will cause certain other spaces 56 to register with the opening 48 and permit finger prints of the thumb and fingers of the other hand to be made in said spaces.

Next the hand wheel 30 is again operated, which will bring the two spaces 5'7 on the card or sheet into registration with the opening 48 and imprints of all the fingers of one hand first made in one of the spaces and those in the other hand made in the other space.

The next operation of the hand wheel 30 will move the card into a position where the spaces 58 will overlie the extension 20 of the table or platen and these are generally known as the index spaces. The table or platen is now rotated 90 degrees so that the right hand side of said table or platen, or more particularly the extension 20 thereof, will be positioned in front of the person whose fingers are being printed and 145 imprints of the thumbs are made in said spaces 58 It will now be obvious that all the finger prints have been made without the operator having to touch the card or sheet and without the necessity 15c of the person Whose finger prints are being taken being changed.

At the time the last finger printing operation is taking place, a large area of the sheet or card 54 is unsupported, and therefore may be readily grasped by the operator and withdrawn from the machine.

Of course I do not wish to be limited to the exact details of construction as herein shown, as these may be varied within the limits of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and useful is:

1. In a device of the kind described, a platen, and a rearwardly projecting extension at the back and to one side of said platen.

2. In a finger printing machine, a surface on which a card may be completely supported, and an extension surface in the path of travel of the card for supporting only a portion of said card whereby a part of said card is left free to be grasped by an operator.

3. A finger print card holder comprising a platen, an apertured guard plate at the forward end of the platen for clamping a finger impression receiving card on the platen, an extension projecting rearwardly from the back edge at one side of the platen, and means to rotatably mount the platen whereby the front part of the platen or the extension may be selectively positioned before a person whose finger prints are being taken.

4:. The structure set forth in claim 3, in combination with means to hold the platen in either of its two positions until said platen is acted upon by a strong outside force.

5. A finger print card holder comprising a table, a pair of parallel guides spaced apart a distance equal to the width of a finger printing card and dividing said table into a card receiving section and marginal side sections, said card receiving section having openings at opposite sides thereof, and said marginal side sections having apertures therein, a shaft disposed beneath the table in a lateral groove crossing the openings with one end of said shaft projecting beyond a side of the table, means on said shaft for manually rotating the latter, feed rolls mounted on said shaft with a portion of their peripheries extending through the openings, levers pivoted on the marginal side sections and having portions overlying the feed rolls and legs projecting through the apertures in the marginal side sections, pressurerollers journalled on said levers and coacting with the feed rolls, springs anchored to the underside of the table and connected with the legs of the levers for normally causing the pressure rollers to contact the feed rolls, and a guard plate hinged to one of the marginal side sections and adapted to be disposed over the forward part of the card receiving section with a portion projecting into the space between the pressure rollers.

6. In a device of the kind described, a platen, a rearwardly projecting extension at the back and to one side of said platen, means to rotatably mount the platen whereby the front part thereof or its extension may be selectively positioned before a person whose finger prints are being taken, and means for temporarily holding said platen in the selected position against accidental movement while permitting said platen to be moved when the platen is grasped and rotated by a force stronger than the means holding the platen in either of its positions.

JOSEPH CARPANI. 

